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Italy's GCDS to open Mayfair store

Italian high-end streetwear label GCDS is set to open its first store in London with a debut in the heart of Mayfair. The area continues to benefit from a raft of international openings, despite the tough fashion retail environment in Britain.

GCDS

The Milan-based company will open next month at 47 Albermarle Street, one of the roads close to Bond Street that are increasingly popular among niche luxury brands.

The brand is currently available in the UK but only via department store concessions or online.

Creative director Giordano Calza told the Evening Standard that the label should be able to win new customers in London as it’s a “very eclectic city”.

And indeed, London is currently benefitting both from a high level of tourism due to its status as a key global destination, but also a high level of luxury shopping tourism due to its favourable exchange rate post-Brexit vote.

The brand’s name stands for God Cannot Destroy Streetwear and the label is fronted by actress Pamela Anderson. It currently has a cult following in London but the opening should raise awareness of the brand significantly.

This brand awareness will also be helped by the street on which it’s chosen to open with a good mix of fashion retail peers located there. Recent openings have included Thom Browne and Self Portrait.

Matt Farrell of property investor Trophaeum, which manages much of Albemarle Street, told the newspaper that the overall area is a major draw for "wealthy Millennial shoppers, who are increasingly becoming the highest spending consumers of luxury goods”.